The Wife

November 27, 2017
Angela Powell, the unreliable narrator of this plot-propelled roller-coaster of a domestic thriller from Edgar-finalist Burke (The Ex), is the wife of a respected NYU economics professor and rising media star and the mother of a 13-year-old. She leads a privileged, if somewhat boring life—which is precisely what she craves after miraculously surviving, as a teen, the kind of ordeal that spawns true crime tomes. But then intern Rachel Sutton accuses her husband, Jason, of sexual harassment, and a second woman comes forward to claim rape and then suddenly vanishes. NYPD Det. Corrine Duncan doggedly investigates the initial allegations and later the disappearance of consultant Kerry Lynch, who Jason claims was his mistress. In the process, Corinne uncovers Angela’s painstakingly buried past, and it starts to look as though almost no one, maybe least of all Angela, is who he or she seems. As riveting as Burke’s increasingly jaw-dropping twists prove, they eventually undermine the believability of her principals. Agent: Philip Spitzer, Philip Spitzer Literary Agency.

November 15, 2017
A woman who suffered extreme trauma in her teen years learns that her celebrity husband may be a sexual predator.Jason Powell is hot in every way. The handsome NYU professor has written a book on socially conscious investing called Equalonomics that spent nearly two years on the bestseller list. Now, in addition to his university job, he has a mega-successful consulting firm and a top-rated podcast. "I never would have predicted that my cute little egghead would become a cultural and political icon," says his wife, Angela, the narrator, who met her man during a catering gig she was working out on Long Island. Now she and Jason occupy a carriage house worth millions in Greenwich Village and send their precocious son to a pricey private school; she has the life of her dreams. Then comes the fly in the ointment, an intern named Rachel who files a complaint at the NYPD Special Victims Unit claiming that Jason made inappropriate sexual suggestions at the office. A second line of narration follows Detective Corinne Duncan as she investigates the complaint, which blows up a few days later when a second woman comes forward with a much more serious accusation. As the story explodes in the media and on the internet, Angela's reaction is a bit different than one might expect: "How long could Jason's 'scandal' make the rounds before someone started to wonder why his wife kept such a low profile?" Why, indeed. Angela's unusual and horrible secret will not completely unfold until the very end of this page-turner. Burke (The Ex, 2016, etc.) puts her experience as prosecutor to good use in her 13th novel, with detailed police work and legal machinations playing key roles.Classic domestic-thriller elements--the too-perfect couple, the unreliable narrator, the troubled past--are given a good workout in this satisfying round of "Who's the Psycho?"

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